WAV Comment – remember we recently covered the entire shipment of the ‘Al Shuwaikh’ when it was transporting 70,000 live sheep from Romania to Kuwait and Iran – well now it is setting its sights on live exports from South Africa – read more below.

From Animals Australia:

The Kuwaiti company responsible for Aussie sheep ‘cooking alive’ at sea is trying to gain a foothold in South Africa.

Little did they know, we were already there waiting for them.

On Sunday night, their hopes of loading South African sheep onto the notorious Al Shuwaikh without any scrutiny or opposition were fully shattered when the country’s premier current affairs TV program, Carte Blanche, aired an unforgettable ’60 Minutes’ style segment as to why South Africa should not export live sheep.

Please take a moment to see how our efforts to protect animals from the live export industry are going global: WATCH NOW!

Along with former live export veterinarian Dr Lynn Simpson, I was interviewed for the program. Caring South Africans are now venting their outrage that this company — having been stopped from getting Australian sheep during the Middle Eastern summer — has turned its sights on South Africa.

The Al Shuwaikh is currently sitting off the South African coast hoping to wait-out the public furore created by the Carte Blanche program. We are teaming up with local animal protection group, the NSPCA, to lobby the South African government to not allow this shipment.

The NSPCA would love Animals Australia supporters to band together with caring South Africans to call on their government to say ‘no’ to live sheep export. You can sign their petition here:

When I landed in Johannesburg to be interviewed for Carte Blanche, it was impossible not to reflect on the enormity of our efforts to bring an end to the global live export trade and the different continents it has taken us to.

Little by little, these powerful export companies are realising that their industry is now being held accountable globally due to the efforts of a relatively small animal charity from ‘down under’ and our band of compassionate and generous supporters.

Achieving this unprecedented exposé on South Africa’s highest-rating current affairs TV programme would not have been possible without our investigations, and without your support. As an investigator and an advocate, I send you a heartfelt thank you.

For the animals,

Shatha Hamade
Legal Counsel – Animals Australia.

From the RSPCA Australia:

Mark, we know how strongly you feel about ending the cruelty of live animal exports.

So we wanted to update you on some recent developments in the trade.

Despite the clear evidence that suffering is inevitable, live sheep exports resume

After a moratorium was placed on live sheep exports from June to 22 September, exports are due to resume this week. This is despite the overwhelming evidence that heat stress is unavoidable for the entirety of the high risk May to October period.

We will be watching this space closely, and are continuing to call for the Department of Agriculture to heed the evidence and protect sheep from suffering by ending this trading period.

What is the Department of Agriculture trying to hide?

Late August, the RSPCA was advised that the Department of Agriculture would refuse to release video footage from live sheep export journeys to the Middle East (footage we requested under the Freedom of Information Act).

On the day the footage was due to be released, we instead received a letter from the Department stating that the footage could not be released, because it could result in adverse criticism of the live animal export industry as a whole and be used by those who are opposed to the industry to lobby for the banning of the trade.

It’s extraordinary. How bad must this footage be (captured under the watch of the government observer), if the Department is concerned it could be used to advocate for an end to the trade altogether?

If the footage is so risky to the future of live export, it’s even more important that we see it.